"States are getting tutorials on teacher quality, compliments of the federal government. Teams headed by the U.S. Department of Education visited seven states and will travel to 15 more by year's end to make sure states meet new federal requirements that 'highly qualified' teachers are in classrooms by 2005-2006."

"To be a highly qualified teacher under [No Child Left Behind], teachers must have a college degree, be licensed by the state and 'demonstrate competency,' which the state defines. Generally, teachers can show competency by majoring in the subject they teach or by passing a subject-matter test. 'The teams (of federal education experts) are meeting with state officials to offer assistance in any way they can' to meet the teacher quality requirements, U.S. Department of Education spokeswoman Jane Glickman told Stateline.org."

"The teams of education experts have already traveled to Oregon, Illinois, Tennessee, Maine, Kansas, Maryland and Alabama and are slated to visit Florida Oct. 24. During the last week of October, Mississippi, Kentucky and Iowa will receive visits from federal teams that U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige calls the 'Teacher Assistance Corps.' On tap for visits during November: Delaware, Virginia, Arizona, Hawaii, Georgia, Alaska, Montana and Colorado. The teams will drop in New York and Wyoming in December and in South Carolina January 2004, according to the department."

"This isn't the first time the department has made house calls to see how states are faring with the No Child Left Behind law. The department also worked with states to make sure all 50 would meet a June deadline showing how states would measure students' academic progress. The states met that deadline."